New Intel Mac mini

[sw1tcher]

How do you know?

Because integrated graphics suck that badly.

 

[notchrisaitkin]

This kind of reminds me of my old Performa 630 - oh, except that machine didn't use integrated graphics that stripped the rest of the system of resources. Potentially a great machine (for its time) choked by a few poor choices. Truly an opportunity missed. Perhaps some people are happy with integrated graphics. They're terrible in a PC. I suspect they'll be worse under Mac OS X. But at least in most cheap PCs theres still an AGP port to use. Or even a PCI slot. I hope and pray that the iBook - sorry, MacBook - doesn't get the graphics set up, otherwise I might seriously start looking at the PC route. I can't afford a MacBook Pro, and I can't deal with el cheapo integrated graphics. This is the beginning of a nightmare...

P.S. I know I'm overreacting, I'll just get a used Powerbook G4 off eBay. Plus, it'll have a better name. It'll take more than intel to force me over to the dark side.

 

[CoMpX]

Uggh. It's much better than my Mac mini, and it can support 2 GB of RAM!!! My mini is maxed out, and I still need more RAM. I guess I'm going to have to suck it up for a couple more years until I get an iMac.

 

[stcanard]

Besides, as you said, the 6200 is not an integrated unit, which immediately makes it a lot better than the GMA950.

Hence, it's not as good a differentiator.

 

[Platform]

That is one great little machine....too bad with the graphics 😱

 

[Multimedia]

Love The Overall Concept - ESP Gigabit Ethernet

Well for me the Gigabit Ethernet is really the great improvement. $599 Price is too high for the weaker model. So it's no brainer to get the $799 model with twice the processing power, Superdrive at a higher speed. 🙄 Should have put a 1 GB stick in there too. That 512 MB RAM is really going to cripple the Core Duo's performance. Wish they had not offered a Core Solo option. I thought we were at the end of Single core processors in the entire line. I guess that will be next refresh with two speeds being the diferentiator then.

Rocket science is not involved in this decision. I wonder if they will sell any of the $599 models. 🙄

 

[ack_mac]

Very happy

Having recently received (early October) a seceretly updated PPC Mini (1.5GHZ, 64MB Radeon 9200, etc) in ealry October I am very happy to see that my purchase was the right decision versus waiting for the Intel Mini.

- I think the new duo core Intel chipset is very nice, and the 667mhz front side bus is a very big upgrade, but..

- The integrated video card was a very bad decision. Apple should have done the right thing here even if they had stuck a $50-60 video card in the new Mini..

- Having to run Adobe Photoshop elements through Rosetta would have been ugly..

- Apple really missed the boat with Front Row and not adding DVR functionality. The press really played this up and now Apple stock is even down today.

- People were expecting bigger and better things at this event. This did not need to be a seperate event, and dragging the media out for this was a waste of their time...

- I am really glad I bought the G4 Mini (and by the way, I am running Front Row).

- The Mini is not, and never will be a gaming machine. Macs, in general, are not gaming machines. This is why I own an Xbox 360 now and possibly a PS3 in the future..

- Not everybody wants an iMac. Not everybody needs to buy a new monitor. My Mini (top end model) with one GB of RAM, and an external 250GB Hitachi FW drive was still hundreds cheaper than the 17" iMac (even if you include the 19" Samsung LCD monitor that I purchased). I paid right around $1K..

 

[ScottB]

This new mini is way too expensive, I guess you get a core duo and a dual layer drive in the secondary version but £600 for a entry machine without even any pereferials? you kinding right?

One the other hand, I guess they'll be less switchers an therefore less virus', the new bonjour stuff sounds good and it opens the gates for a really cheap mac, tablet anyone?

Edit: BTW, don't mean to negative, I just cant afford one!

 

[ddrueckhammer]

Worth repeating.

In my MBA marketing and strategic planning classes, my team did an analysis and recommendation for Apple's business plan. What we determined was essentially as stated above: a low cost mini that provides no price barrier to enter the Mac world and a home unit/DVR "set top" box in the living room. This box would essentially be a mini-powered device but rebranded to leverage the iPod name. Such a device would play music, interface with your iPod w/ a dock, allow you to play videos from iTunes, as well as your DVDs and basic DVR. In essence, the digital entertainment device.

Only Apple has the presence to make this happen via their vertical integration: they have the knowledge, the hardware, and the infrastructure (iTunes) to make this happen. They could once again define a market to their specifications and dominate through innovation and offerings. By leveraging the iPod brand, they could be first to market and establish a strong dominance before competing products, such as the Viiv platform, arrive. I really think Apple has squandered this opportunity.

I'm not saying we're any kind of geniuses, but three other non-Apple users reached this recommendation from a purely business perspective and looking at where Apple needs to go from here. You can't poop out iPods forever.

It's interesting that your marketing class came to this conclusion...Haha I'm an engineer. I think what you mean is that the ITMS structure is essential. I think that a separate app to organize and download high quality feature length content would be in order here. iTunes is already trying to do a lot. Also, I don't think the Media Center Mac needs to even run OS X. Front Row as the GUI for the Unix backbone would be enough...

 

[iHeartTheApple]

Yes. It will use available main memory. The max memory the chip will use is 224 Mb - specs from the intel site

intel 950 graphics specs


aussie_geek

Ok, I have a question regarding this fact: Does this mean that the 950 has 64MB of dedicated memory on the mobo *AND* will draw extra from the system RAM when needed? Furthermore, it will do so up to 224MB total? So, yeah...what am I missing? If i get a 1.67GHz Duo with 2GB of RAM, that leaves me 2048 - 224 = ~1.75GB for the rest of the system...what's the problem? This also gives you *up to* 224MB of RAM allocated to video processes. How is this a terrible thing? Isn't it at least as good if not better than a dedicated 64MB card?

Can someone with knowledge about this, please explain? 😱 I'm no graphics card expert...Thanks a bunch for the help!

 

[slooksterPSV]

WITHDRAWN --


[ not sure if this was posted anywhere ] but do you guys see a potential problem with the Mac Mini? I do. Apple stated on the Mac Mini's page when it was a G4 that - the Mac-Mini is better because the Graphics isn't an Integrated Intel Graphics chip, but a full fledged Graphics Card chip (namely ATI) - what did they do now? You only have 432MB of RAM with the Mac Mini for Mac OS X, 80MB is dedicated to Video RAM. Apple WTF! Don't you dare go Windoze on me.

 

[ScottB]

That is one great little machine....too bad with the graphics 😱

Intergrated graphics, I never even considered the idea of them putting them in, oh well I guess it will turn out ok if all entry products have them. Please no intergrated in the MacBooks (iBooks)!

 

[maestro55]

I got the chance to check this out this afternoon, I like it. I think it is fair that they went up $100 on the low-end Mini, and I think the "high-end" mini price is fair. Considering you can get a pretty nice system for under $1000. I think the pluses for the the low end system is how much faster it is than the PPC mini, and also taking into consideration the new ports and the GB Ethernet. It is a perfect system for those people looking for a base-line Desktop because it has the abilities to daily tasks very easily. I think this is a great system for switchers and home users, and I think the fact that OS X is a 'pro' product running on this low-end home systems is great.

Apple will go far with this mini as they did with the other mini. Now I am just waiting for the MacBook (intel iBook).

 

[sunfast]

Shame about the graphics, but there are loads of other good points. Overall, I'm impressed and certainly wouldn't mind owning one.

Let's hope it brings in more switchers too..

 

[Max on Macs]

I really can't understand why so many people are getting so worked up about this not being a good event. Firstly, it was a good event. It brought us news of the Intel Mac mini - while not a lot different from the old one, it shows that things are moving on and that Apple is getting the transition to Intel moving and that's good news (that they're doing it quickly) because it will encourage companies like Microsoft and Adobe to get their acts together and release us some yummy universal software. Also, yes ok fine the speakers aren't particularly special, but they do look nice. I would never have any other third party speaker system on my bedside table, they never looked as good as an Apple product would, but I like the look of this thing, and it will be replacing my Bang Olufsen BeoSound any time now. As for the leather cases, overpriced, but they were sexy, and ordering one along with my mini and speakers didn't seem to make the price look so high, and I do like the look of them. Again, the third party stuff always seemed a bit tacky to me. So yeah, not the major events like the ones we saw towards the end of last year (and it was never intended to be - Apple didn't do all the fancy jazz and hints like with the last ones, and it was on campus), just a quick note to release things that they wanted (I assume) to release at MacWorld, but couldn't. I mean, we already knew they wanted to release the iPod Hi-Fi then (or had pretty good sources to suggest it anyway. Come on people, sort your acts out and enjoy the new products!

 

[all-in-my-head]

IR on Front Row Remote

Can someone please explain why all these Mac Intel revisions with Front Row have IR remotes? Whats is wrong with using Bluetooth for a remote. That way they don't have to build in the sensor, they could sell Front Row for existing machines that already have Bluetooth. Plus you wouldn't need line of sight, so when the mini is hooked up to a projector behind the sofa I can still use Front Row!

 

[Platform]

One thing that surprised me was four (4) USB ports and two RAM DIMMS 😱 😀

 

[Erendiox]

Is there any place to post feedback on Mac Minis? I looked at Apples site and all I could find was product feedback for the iPod, Power Mac, and Macbook...If there is a general feedback site we should all send feedback so that the next incarnation of this product is better.

Thats ridiculous. Why would you post feedback for something you haven't even bought and tried? Nobody even owns any of these yet. If you want to change the next incarnation of mac minis then send letters to apple. Don't bombard a product feedback page with bad remarks that you have no real right to post. Honestly, how arrogant can you get...

 

[Max on Macs]

On another note, anyone know anything about the Intel GMA950 graphics? I'm about to buy a set of minis, one for each of my TVs, to go along with Sky+ (and I'll have all my media on a PowerMac G5 in the study). What I want to know is, will they display DVDs, movie files, photos and music animation thingys in Front Row well on a resolution of 1280 by 720 (that's the resolution most of my TVs run at - the others are lower).

Thanks

 

[Mr5by5]

Wow, I'm very dissapointed. Well, maybe that's overstating it a bit.

I'm a 2003 "switcher" at work, buying both a desktop machine, and an Ibook (In Nov 2005) and very happy with both. I'm an ex-hardcore gamer, so I know my hardware.

I've been waiting for the intel mac-mini, as the machine to replace my 3 year old P4 2.4 home machine. This mini is not it however, and I think apple will see disspointing sales on this one .

They are most assuredly going the wrong way on this one, and thanks to Apple, I'm going to buy a mid-range video card and keep my Windows machine alive for a couple more years.

For those of you thinking of switching, here's some good advice: You WILL NEED 1MB of RAM Minimum. I'm not saying that this machine isn't good for an emailer/internet surfer - it is, but the $600 starting price is really headed in the wrong direction.

This move has caused me to raise an eyebrow.

 

[freeny]

Just as I predicted...

A whole lotta nothin'

You must believe Steve when he says "Some fun new products."
No where did he ever mention any thing ground breaking or substantial, just "fun".
This event was strictly to announce the few items left off the table from MWSF.
Nothing wrong with any of the announced products, just nothing eventfull.

Apple didnt make all the hype, all the spectaters did. Glad its passed and we can move on....

 

[ryaxnb]

There's a lot of rhetoric on this thread, but if someone could please answer some pointed questions, that'd be great.

I really wanted a media machine that could handle DVDs/iTunes as well as do some light Photoshop work at the same time. Right now I have my 3+ yr old PowerBook G4 12" overextended doing all this (plus it outputs VGA to my Dell 26" LCD-TV, and non-digital audio to my receiver).

Questions:

-can the mini support HDMI output to my Dell?

Yes, with an adapter. Apple's website notes this.

-can the mini support spanning across two monitors, VGA and the aforementioned HDMI (I have a feeling this is a stretch)?

Nope. Only one video outlet.

-if I upgrade the RAM is the Intel Integrated graphics gonna be enough?

Yep. It only takes a few MB of RAM (up to about 10 for a 24" monitor or 5.5 for a 17" LCD Monitor) to drive a large monitor. Mind you, due to Quartz Extreme, 32MB would probably not be enough, but the new mini can go up to 64 shared MB.

Any help is appreciated,

-N

hope i helped 🙂

 

[BWhaler]

I have been waiting to upgrade my wife's mini, and I may just do that with this bump since she really needs a faster computer.

With that said:

1. The mini is no longer a low cost computer. Bumping the hard drive and reasonable memory make it an $1,100 computer.

The mini is now the headless mid range Mac. And this is why the integrated graphics is a pathetic joke.

It is not the low end computer it originally was, so let's stop making excuses for Apple.

 

[slooksterPSV]

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,1821805,00.asp - Interesting article on the Graphics Card.

 

[ryaxnb]

If they didn't put an X1300 in the Mac Mini, I doubt that the iBook/MacBook/IntelintegratedgraphicsBook would have an X1300. 🙁

Quick Question - Up to what ACD can this support?

23"